THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Canadian History 1201

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES At the end of the war, government leaders met near Paris, in the Palace of Versailles, to sign the “Paris Peace Treaty”

32 victorious countries were presentGermany was not invited!!

Robert Borden demanded that Canada be represented as a separate nation

The Big Three made the main decisions

THE BIG THREE - FRANCE Prime Minister was Georges Clemenceau

Wanted to avoid another war by making sure Germany was too weak to ever attack again Germany had attacked France twice in Clemenceau’s lifetime!!

He was determined Germany should pay for starting the war

THE BIG THREE – BRITAIN Prime Minister was David Lloyd George

He was responsible for helping to work out many of the compromises

Although Britain had lost many in the war, he did not want a treaty to be too harsh because he feared Germany would seek revenge in the future

THE BIG THREE – UNITED STATES President was Woodrow Wilson

They were determined to make a lasting peace settlement

Wanted to treat defeated countries fairly so future revenge wouldn’t be a problem

Suggested Fourteen Points which included complete disarmament and free trade among nations

Suggested setting up a League of Nations to settle future disputes and to promote international co-operation

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE TREATY Polish Corridor

Poland was re-established as an independent nationThis separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany It was a corridor of land created to separate Germany from East Prussia and allow Poland to have access to the sea

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE TREATY War Guilt Clause

The treaty demanded that Germany accept total blame for the war

Germany was to give up all its weapons, ships and railroads

Germany was to give back all the land it had conqueredGermany must allow Allied troops to be stationed on its territory

ReparationsThe Allied governments required that Germany pay back for all wartime damage to the civilian population and the property of the Allied powers

This equalled about $33 billion, with $5 billion being due in the first month

REACTION TO THE TREATY PM Borden publicly acknowledged that these terms were hash

It was hoped by the drafters of the policy that the Treaty would make the First World War the “war to end all wars”

Although the purpose of the treaty was to weaken Germany so that it couldn’t wage war again it unfortunately did the opposite and made Germany angry and want revenge